Killington residents look at the future of their town

(Host) On Tuesday, Killington residents will have a chance to
vote on the specific nuts and bolts of running their community.

But
as VPR's Nina Keck reports, another meeting was held Thursday night
that allowed people with an interest in Killington to vote on what they want
their town to become.

(Keck) The Vermont Council on Rural Development
calls them community visits. Former
Killington select board member Charles Demarest, describes it more as a Town
Meeting for dreamers.

(Demerest) "It's different. It's attracting interest from people who we
never see at Town Meeting."

(Keck) The
council held the first meeting back in January and over 250 people took part. Their job
was to brainstorm about what they want Killington to be like in 20 years. Their top 12 ideas were written down on
poster board and taped to the wall of the school gym for the second
meeting.

(Costello) "So, here's your opportunity to
say - of the things on this blue sheet and on the things on the wall, what's
most crucialtothe future of this community."

(Keck) Paul Costello, Executive Director of the
Vermont Council on Rural Development passed around a microphone to the 150 or so
people at last night's follow up.

(Crowd input) "I
really believe that a performing arts center is extremely important fore the
town. Many of the Floridians who used to
come here - came because of the theater and the ballet and the other things we
used to have. And those are the things
that we really really need to bring back here to bring back the four season
resort."

(Man) "Obviously
we need to hold on to our old businesses, but what I heard people say was they
want to expand the economic opportunities in the community and not have
everything just oriented to the ski business.
Thank you.

"I think that the partnership of
Killington Town, the Killington ski resort and the Killington businesses is the
foundation for all of what we're talking about. All of what we're talking about is dependent
upona partnership between the town, the mountain and the
local businesses. . .

(Keck) That last remark, by long time Killington
resident Beverly Anderson, touched a nerve and it was echoed by many in the
audience. June
Buttner owns a kitchen boutique on Route 4.
She says Powdr Inc, the company that recently purchased Killington
resort has rubbed many local residents the wrong way.

(Buttner) "The
new owners came in with a mission of reducing skier visits and improving the
mountain experience. I don't think the
mountain experience has improved, but they have succeeded tremendously in
decreasing the number of skiers coming to Killington and that's a problem for
all business owners. (Nina) How has that
affected your business? (Buttner) My business is down over 50% . My building is for sale. I'm ready to go."

(Keck) Dave Rathbun, sales and marketing director
for Killington resort says the company does want to improve relations with the
local community.

(Rathbun) "It
has been a little bit contentious. We've
made a lot of changes. And all of those
changes were designed to help the company become stronger and more sustainable
for the future. Now with that said a
lot of the changes have had some negative impacts on residents in the community
and some of the business owners. We
were really sorry that that's how it's played out."

(Keck) While overall skier visits are down, Rathbun
says the company's revenues are up.
That's possible, he says becaues the resort stopped most of its free or
discounted ticket offers. He says the
resort needs a lot of capital improvements and once money begins flowing back
into the resort, they fully expect skier visits to climb. In the meantime, he says the two public
forums have improved the dialog between the company and the community
dramatically.

Residents will meet for a
final time to discuss implementing their priorities March 25.